Lake Tahoe beach clean-up set for Saturday

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INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — Support your local beaches and streams by participating in the Great Sierra River Clean Up at Lake Tahoe in honor of Coastal Cleanup Day. The event is 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Sept. 21.

The 2012 Cleanup Day was a striking success; hundreds of volunteers gave their Saturday morning to work around the shoreline of Lake Tahoe picking up litter.

The trash gathered from 35 miles of shoreline totaled more than one ton. Much of what was gathered was recyclable material such as beverage bottles and cans.

Another item that especially concerning for the organizations, as well as the volunteers, was the volume of cigarette butts collected from the shores. While the quantity of waste collected is distressing, the level of enthusiasm and commitment exhibited by the community of volunteers defines the accomplishment of the event.

From Baltimore to Bangladesh, these cleanup events are the world’s most astounding grassroots cleanup effort. Every year in September, more than half a million people in 100 countries remove millions of pounds of trash from beaches and waterways.

Here in the Lake Tahoe Basin, three organizations collaborate to organize volunteers and community awareness for the Great Sierra River Cleanup. The Clean Tahoe Program, in conjunction with Sierra Nevada Alliance, and the League to Save Lake Tahoe arrange efforts on the South Shore.

IVGID’s Waste Not agency takes on the North and East shores; together, half of the lake’s perimeter is accounted for. This year’s Tahoe event is part of a Sierra-wide collaboration with the Great Sierra River Cleanup — with cleanups happening all throughout the Sierra Nevada.

Trash bags will be provided. Bring work gloves. This event is sponsored locally by the Tahoe Water Suppliers Association, IVGID Waste Not, Clean Tahoe and the League to Save Lake Tahoe.

Volunteer check-in location for the North and East shore beaches is the Incline Village Recreation Center, 980 Incline Way. Call the IVGID Waste Not Hotline at 775-832-1284 for information.